China's retail sales growth in August falls short of forecasts
In China, retail sales growth slowed to 0.4% year-on-year in August, while the decline in investment deepened. This was reported by CNBC Top News, citing data from China's National Bureau of Statistics.
The retail sales figure came in below the expectations of economists surveyed by Reuters, who had forecast growth of 0.8%. In July, sales increased by 0.6% year-on-year.
Deepening investment decline
In the first eight months of the year, fixed-asset investment in urban areas, including investment in real estate and infrastructure, fell by 7.2% compared with the same period a year earlier. The decline was 6.7% in January-July.
The survey-based urban unemployment rate rose to 5.3% in August from 5.2% in July.
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Industrial production grows faster than expected
At the same time, China's industrial production rose by 5.2% year-on-year in August, following 4.5% growth in July. Economists had expected an increase of 4.8%.
China's National Bureau of Statistics said the negative impact of the external environment had intensified. The agency also pointed to an “acute” domestic imbalance between strong supply and weak demand and said that some companies were still facing operational difficulties.
The bureau called for stronger macroeconomic policy adjustments, stimulation of domestic demand, and support for industrial modernization. In the second quarter, China's economy grew by 4.3%, the weakest pace in more than three years and below Beijing's annual target of 4.5-5%.
The volume of new bank loans in August amounted to 60 billion yuan, or $8.95 billion, compared with a forecast of about 400 billion yuan. A year earlier, the figure was 590 billion yuan, while the growth rate of outstanding loans slowed to a record low of 4.9%.
